


Forever in Tiny Moments

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Other, Pre-White House (West Wing), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-22
Updated: 2008-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-31 07:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15114536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: "It's 1961 Arnold, you are not the only one the world is changing for."





	Forever in Tiny Moments

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  
Author's notes: written for sorkin_fest on live journal. The prompt was something in the past of Arnold Vinick.  


* * *

Arnold woke with the crows. That’s what his mother always said, even when he was a toddler. It helped when they moved from Brooklyn to Santa Paula, California. He woke with his father every morning to help at the orange grove before school. It served him even better when he went off to Yale University to study law. He took all of his classes in the morning, which made it easier to devote afternoons to participating in the large amount of activities the school offered its student body.

While Arnold enjoyed the Political Union’s Conservative Party and the Student Council, of which he was the Vice-President in his junior year, his passion quickly became the Forensics Team. During junior year he was made co-captain and took his team all the way to the National Finals. They defeated Northwestern University and gave Yale another big trophy. Arnold Vinick brought home more than that; he decided then that a life in the political arena would bring him satisfaction. 

Everyone told him what a great orator he was…he was never a shy farm boy behind the podium. When he went home in the summer to tell his father of his plans, Richard Vinick told him he would do a sight better than the idiots in Sacramento and Washington, DC. “Whatever you do in life Arnold,” his father always said. “Make sure you follow your beliefs.”

Leaving debate practice one afternoon in his senior year, Arnold ran into the next big change of his life. He was re-reading _David Copperfield_ for his British Literature class, his face hidden behind the pages. His mother always warned him about reading and walking. He barely escaped cars during his youth and young adulthood in California. This time, however, his bad habit led him right into the arms of a very beautiful young woman. Arnold jumped back, his whole face coloring while she just smiled.

“I am so sorry.” he said. “I'm not supposed to be reading and walking you see, it’s a very bad habit. My mother’s told me a million times.”

“ _David Copperfield_ is one of my favorites too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Is the Forensics Team practicing in this building?” she asked.

Arnold looked back at Woolsey Hall, as if he didn’t know what building she was talking about. His eyes returned to her and she still wore that smile. It was then that he noticed her jade green eyes. They held him in an almost trance-like state. Three times, he opened his mouth before something coherent came out.

“Its over.” He mumbled.

“I'm sorry?”

“The Forensics Team practice is over.”

“Oh darn. I was supposed to meet the captain here and now I'm too late. Perhaps I should go to the Dean of Students office and find out which dormitory he lives in.”

“Arnold Vinick?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s his name. He is the captain of the Forensics Team and I’m supposed to be interviewing him.”

“Interviewing him?”

“Mmm hmm. Oh, I'm Elizabeth Cavalieri; everyone calls me Betsy. I'm from Vassar College and I am doing an interview for _The Misc_. Its called _Yalies on the Move_. Arnold Vinick is the captain of the Forensics Team, Student Council President, and now he has been accepted to Stanford Law School. I think if people read about him they will be inspired.”

“Inspired?”

“Yes. Do you know him; could you tell me where he lives?”

“Actually, you're talking to him.”

“What? Oh my goodness, you're Arnold Vinick?”

“Yes.”

“Its wonderful to meet you.” Betsy shook his hand. He was surprised that her firmness matched his. “I thought I missed you and this is only my third time on campus. I'm sure I would have gotten lost trying to find you.”

“You really want to interview me?”

“Yes.” She nodded. That beautiful smile was still there. “ _Yalies on the Move_ for my school newspaper.”

“Vassar is our sister school.” Arnold mumbled.

“Yes.”

“I was just going to grab a bite to eat, Elizabeth. Would you like to join me?”

“It’s Betsy and that sounds great. Lead the way.”

***

They spent the entire afternoon together. Betsy hated to cut it short but night would fall soon and she needed to get back to Poughkeepsie. She promised to write a terrific article and mail it to him. She wrote his dormitory address in her notebook. Arnold walked her to her car, parked in the practically deserted faculty parking lot. It was a Friday evening so not many professors were roaming about campus.

“It was a nice afternoon.” he said. “I would have just gone back to the dormitory and stuck my face in this book.” He tapped _David Copperfield_ with his finger.

“That’s not a bad way to spend your time, though I'm glad we could spend it together too. You're going to be someone special, Arnold Vinick, at least I think so.”

“I just found something that I love; everyone should be so lucky. The world is starting to change and I want to be a part of it.”

“It will be a better place with you in it. Well, I have to go.”

“Please…please let me see you again.” he took her hand. “I am sure you're quite busy and I…we can make it work, I think. There's not much distance between us.”

“How about dinner next week? I should be finished writing the article by Wednesday afternoon.”

“I can borrow my roommate’s car and drive to Poughkeepsie. You shouldn’t be driving so late at night.”

“Its 1961 Arnold, you're not the only one the world is changing for.”

“I know, but I would feel better.”

“Alright.” She smiled again, squeezing his hand. “Friday night?”

“Yes. Goodbye Betsy.”

“Say goodnight, not goodbye. We’ll see each other again.”

“Goodnight.”

She climbed into her blue Chevrolet. Arnold stood in the parking lot until he couldn’t see it anymore. He headed back to his dormitory, doing his best to immerse himself in the world that Dickens created. Betsy Cavalieri took over his thoughts and for the first time in too long to remember, that was just fine by him.

***

“I think you should come back to bed.” Betsy slid her arms around her husband, kissing the nape of his neck.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Arnold stared out of the living room window, watching the sunrise over Stanford. He sighed, sliding his hands over hers. They were man and wife now, celebrating their three-week anniversary today. Someday the little things would not mean so much but they did right now. It only took six months for Arnold to propose to Betsy. 

His father let him cash one of the savings bonds Grandmother Vinick gave him for law school to buy the ring. His mother told him that she did not think Betsy was the girl for him. She was beautiful, with her olive skin, black hair and green eyes. She was very intelligent, a year away from graduating with honors from Vassar when Patricia Vinick first met her. Still, she was so ambitious.

Betsy was a writer, in her heart, even if she did not believe the cutthroat world of New York journalism was for her. She was an award-winning short story writer and did not intend to give up her passion because of marriage. As seriously as she took her writing though, she was supportive of Arnold’s law school ambitions. Betsy accepted his proposal with sheer glee, throwing herself in his arms and kissing him passionately.

The college junior was ambitious; she would take care of herself as well as Arnold even with 3,000 miles between them for an entire year. Arnold went into his first year of law school an engaged man as Betsy finished her education at Vassar. They were married the next summer at the Vinick’s orange grove in Santa Paula.

“You should know by now that I do not like sleeping without you. Come back to bed, Arnold.”

He turned around, taking her into his arms and softly kissing her lips. Betsy smiled and took his face in her hands. When she smiled, he was sure that his feet lifted from the ground. He had always been quiet, studious, and friendly. He still struggled to figure out what a wonderful lively girl like the former Betsy Cavalieri saw in him.

“You have the funniest look on your face,” she said. “What's the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you sure, honey?”

“Sometimes I think too much.”

“That’s alright. Tell me what you're thinking about, Arnold Vinick?” Betsy twirled her fingers through his hair knowing how much he loved that.

“Nothing, really.”

“OK, we’ll play it your way for now. Come back to bed with me and I promise you won't have to think at all.”

Arnold was still trying to catch up with Betsy in bed. To be sure, they both went to their marriage bed as virgins, but Mrs. Vinick enjoyed sex. She loved the intimacy; being naked with her husband. It was important to her that they were both satisfied. Arnold was mystified when she showed him certain things that would insure they stayed that way.

Her happiness meant everything to him. Fear struck him when he let himself think it might not be possible. Arnold simply nodded as she led him by the hand back to their tiny bedroom in their tiny apartment. She was right…he needed to be back in bed.

“Betsy?”

“Hmm?” she ran her hands down his naked chest.

“You're happy, right?”

“What? Of course I'm happy.”

“You will be content being a lawyer’s wife and a homemaker?” Arnold asked.

“I will be content being your wife, yes. I will work part-time at the library until you graduate from law school and I look forward to that. The best thing about being a writer is that I can do that right here with you and our future family.”

“You don’t need the pace of Manhattan?” Arnold asked.

“Arnold, I only need you. I love you; I've loved you since the first afternoon we were together. Please never doubt that.”

He couldn’t. The way she looked at him when he talked, and Arnold loved to talk to her, her affection was obvious. A tiny part of him, a part Arnold constantly pushed aside, told him that the young couple did not have forever. He did not quite know what that meant. Since having a conversation with the nagging voice in his head would mean he was ready for the crazy house, Arnold could not ask.

All he could do was hold tight to the wisp of a woman in his arms. The woman who moaned his name just right. Betsy made him feel heady every day, as if he drank too much champagne. When he was away from her, in class or busy with his part-time job at the law firm, he just wanted to be with her again. Their forever would be made up from each wonderful moment in time.

***


End file.
